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DIN Chairman's Letter to the Times : Printed 26/03/03
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Sir,
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The recently announced plan for the NHS to spend £2.3 billion to create a central electronic record system
of the medical records of the whole UK population (report, Business, March 20) looks certain to result
in another costly NHS disaster.
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Such a system must remain under the control of the medical profession if it is to be trusted
and properly used. National medical organisations with the requisite experience and knowledge already exist,
yet the NHS plan makes little provision for their involvement. Meanwhile the Government is contracting
with large foreign multinationals to take control of the entire nation’s health records.
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GPs routinely keep detailed patient records of a social, psychological and sexual nature on their
practice computers, which are reasonably secure.The prospect of a faceless and non-accountable NHS
bureaucracy "controlling" access to vast numbers of intimate and detailed medical records at central
locations is deeply worrying.
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"Joined-up government" can easily become "Big Brother". If this scheme is allowed to proceed without
being overseen by an independent and trusted ethical group, the doctor’s duty of confidentiality to
patients will necessarily result in vital but confidential patient information being left out
of the proposed remote record, which will therefore be potentially unsafe.
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The Government needs urgently to reconsider, otherwise the demands of patient confidentiality
will force a return to separate computer systems, or even paper records.
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Yours faithfully,
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PAUL STEVENTON
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(Chairman, Doctors Independent Network),
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Fitznells Manor Surgery,
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Chessington Road, Ewell KT17 1TF
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March 21
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